a controlling interest in the Mirror and by 1888 was sole owner of the Mirror Newspaper Company. With an inside look into the theatrical profession, Fiske's view of the arts changed dramatically. He was continually distressed by the plight of out-of-work actors and by the "laissez-faire practices of the American stage." Fiske determined to turn the Dramatic Mirror into a sort of artistic and professional conscience for the American theater, writing editorials on not only the aesthetic merits of theatrical productions, but also the improvement of working conditions and the regulation of health hazards in theaters. Though he disapproved of industry efforts to organize an actors' union, Fiske did help to secure the passage of the Cummings Act of 1896 and subsequent laws to protect playwrights against literary piracy. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Actors' Fund of America. With the help of his wife, the celebrated actress Minnie Maddern, as well as the likes of David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt and the Shubert family staged a coup on the Theatrical Syndicate, helping to break the stranglehold they had maintained on theater bookings from coast to coast. In 1901 Fiske leased the Manhattan Theatre on Thirty-Third Street as a showcase for his wife and as a venue for other artists. The theater became home to the "Manhattan Company" whose players included the well-known actors Tyrone Power Sr., George Arliss and John B. Mason. Over the course of his career, Fiske produced more than 140 plays, many of which he wrote or directed including Hester Crewe (1893), The Privateer (1903), and The Queen of Liars (1896) adapted from a play by Alphonse Daudet and Léon Hennique. He is perhaps best known for his 1911 production of Edward Knoblauch’s Kismet starring Otis Skinner. Marriage On March 19, 1890, Harrison Fiske married actress Minnie Maddern at Larchmont Manor. He first saw her when at the age of twelve he attended a local production of King John in which his eight-year-old future bride played a boy’s part. Their paths crossed once again a few years later, but were not formally introduced until she was nearly twenty. Mrs. Fiske, as she was often professionally known, appeared in a number of plays directed by her husband, including Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Salvation Neil, Becky Sharp and Mary of Magdala. The two remained together until her death in 1932. Death Fiske died at the age